period of purple crying

So, DH and I took a CPR class on Saturday and at the end we were lectured about the period of purple crying... Just when I thought I was totally prepd for parenthood, I was like, whoa, I have never heard about this before from anybody!

All babies have it and it is basically where at about 2 weeks old, your baby will start crying more often. It peaks at about 2 months and they are back to normal around 3-4 months old. Seriously, if I did not know about this, I would drive myself insane trying to figure out what i was doing wrong!

BTDT moms, have you noticed this with your babies, and how long did it last?

Comments (25)

I had to watch a video about it before I got to leave the hospital with my son but neither of my children ever went through it. I wasn't told that every child goes through a period of it but that it could happen.

I guess I need to do more research... The instructor told us all babies go through it, but for some it would be more noticable than others. The while point of the discussion is to reduce baby shaking incidents...

My DD was a bit more complicated than normal medically, and she was our foster baby, so she was having visits with brth parents and disruptions to her schedule and she cried SO much :( She was with me form the time she was 2 days old and her birth parents were very mentally ill and seemed to unsettle her even as an infant... there would be nights after a visit where she would just cry and cry... and cry. It was heart breaking. If she fell asleep it would be burrowed as far into me as she could... as she got older she would claw her way up by my neck... I couldn't hold her tight enough or close enough... if I moved she'd jerk back awake. By the time she was one she would scream and cry and kick on her way down the hall to the visit room....

When she was 3 months old we were on vacation for a week (so no visits)... we had no idea that she could be such an "easy" baby... but a calm week was amazing, and so sad to know what her little world could be like :( I still tear up when I remember her first 18 months and some of the things she went through.

BUT... yes, I have known lots of babies who have had similar periods of crying... sometimes all you can do it rock... or sometimes even put them down somewhere safe and give yourself a little break....